A container-handling machine outputs a stream of processed containers. For example, a filling machine or a closing machine will output one filled or closed container one after another. This stream is typically only one container wide.
For packaging applications, it is useful to have a stream whose width is a multiple of the container's width. This is because packaged containers often come as rectangular arrays of containers and not single lines of containers. As a result, there exist known devices that carry out the function of transforming a narrow container streams into wider container streams.
Known devices for carrying out the foregoing function require a relatively long conveying path for reliable and interruption-free widening of a container stream. In many cases, known devices achieve this only attained after two stations or shaping sectors that follow one another in sequence.
In addition, when devices are handling many containers at high speed, the containers may become unstable. This is particularly true for tall containers made of a lighter material, such as plastic or polyethylene terephthalate containers. This impedes operational reliability.